Cannabis in Victoria
In Victoria the rule that matters most for where you can smoke is regional: the Capital Regional District's Clean Air Bylaw bans burning or vaping cannabis in parks, on beaches within parks, at public squares, on patios and within 7 metres of bus stops and doorways. Every cannabis store in the city needs a site-specific rezoning, a system Victoria built for dispensaries in 2016.
Where can you smoke cannabis in Victoria?
B.C. bans cannabis smoking and vaping in municipal parks, at playgrounds, sports fields and skate parks, and within 6 metres of doors and bus stops (see the B.C. rules). Greater Victoria is stricter. The CRD Clean Air Bylaw applies across 16 municipalities and electoral areas, Victoria included, and was amended in 2018 and again in January 2019 to cover burning or vaping any substance, cannabis included, in its listed public spaces.
Its buffer around doorways, windows, air intakes and bus stops is 7 metres, wider than the provincial 6. And while B.C. allowed cannabis smoking on some public patios in 2024, the CRD bylaw still bans it on patios where food or drink is served. Island Health enforces the bylaw with warnings and tickets.
| Place | Allowed? |
|---|---|
| Your own home (strata and lease rules permitting) | Allowed |
| Parks, beaches within parks, playgrounds, playing fields | Not allowed |
| Public squares | Not allowed |
| Bus stops, doorways, windows, air intakes | Not within 7 metres |
| Patios serving food or drink | Not allowed |
How does Victoria regulate cannabis stores?
Through rezoning. In September 2016, with roughly 40 dispensaries operating, council adopted the Storefront Cannabis Retailer Rezoning Policy. Each shop needed a business licence and a site-specific rezoning, and the policy set 200-metre buffers from schools and between shops, measured from whichever store was approved first. Council could relax the buffer case by case. The city won a court injunction to close a dispensary refused rezoning for being too close to a school.
The same structure applies today. A store must be on a lot zoned for cannabis retail sales; if it isn't, rezoning costs $7,500 and is assessed under the 2016 policy, followed by a public notification process before the city makes its recommendation on the provincial licence. The city business licence then costs $1,500. Because each location goes through council, neighbours get a say on every new store.
How has cannabis in Victoria changed since 2018?
Victoria's first legal stores opened together on April 15, 2019, both downtown. Legal shops now need both the city's rezoning and a provincial licence, and the province has shut down dispensaries in the city that operated without one.
| Date | What happened |
|---|---|
| September 2016 | Storefront Cannabis Retailer Rezoning Policy adopted; 200 m buffers |
| May 2018 | CRD Clean Air Bylaw amended to cover cannabis and vaping |
| October 17, 2018 | Legalization |
| January 2019 | CRD bans burning or vaping any substance in its public spaces |
| April 15, 2019 | First two legal stores open |
What should visitors to Victoria know?
You must be 19 to buy or use cannabis in B.C. Passenger ferries from Victoria's Inner Harbour to Washington State cross an international border, and carrying any amount of cannabis across it is illegal even though Washington has legal cannabis. B.C. Ferries trips to the mainland stay within Canada. To check a product's contents, see how to read a cannabis label.
